Bird treats such as bird bells which are formed from a combination of seeds (i.e. white millet, sunflower, red millet, milo), grains, bits of fruit and/and or nuts, and which are held together by a dried sticky material such as honey or dextrose, are commonly used to feed and attract wild bird species. Bird bells present a particularly difficult problem to support properly, in that they are loosely “glued” together since they are designed to feed birds. In the past, form-fitting net-type sacks have been utilized for hanging the treats.
In accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,708 to Brue et al., another type of bird treat support has been used which includes a disk for supporting the bottom of a bird bell, and a separate hanging tab that is connected to the disk and inserted into an axial slot within the bird bell. A top portion of the tab extends out above the bird bell for hanging. The hanging tab includes an aperture by which the bell support and bird bell may be hung. Centrally located in the disk is a slot into which a widened lower end of the hanging tab may be inserted and twisted to thereby connect to the disk. It has been found, however, that this two-piece construction can be comparatively expensive, and it is possible for the hanging tab and disk to become separated if they rotate with respect to each other, thereby allowing the bird bell to fall. Additionally, the bird bell cannot be molded around the support as it is formed, thus requiring a two-step manufacturing process of filling the mold and attaching the support to the molded treat.
Another type of bird treat support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,995 to Grittman et al. This support is a unitary piece, having a movable suspension member at one end, connected to a stem with a hole at an opposite end. While this support is less expensive to manufacture and assemble than the two-piece design, it still requires a two-step manufacturing process.
Yet another type of bird treat support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,691 to Loehndorf. A support structure to which a conglomeration of small animal food can be formed includes a stem having a top and bottom plate at opposite ends thereof. The top plate includes a hanging clip capable of securing the support to a small animal cage or other support structure. The bottom plate may have a securing clip capable of better securing the support to the cage. In order to improve the ability of the support structure to retain the conglomeration thereon when an animal picks at it, a plurality of protuberances are disposed along the length of the stem. Small animal food is disposed about the stem in the molding process, so that it is between the top and bottom plates. While this patent discloses a support that is used in one step molding process, it can only be used for shapes that allow the mold to be filled from the side of an elongated shape, not from an end. Therefore, for shapes such as a bell, ball, column or any other shape that does not have a flat side, this particular support cannot be used because such shapes are necessarily filled from one end.
Accordingly, a need exists for a bird treat support that is simple, relatively inexpensive and is inserted during the molding process.